{{Short description|British soldier (1867–1953)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix=Sir |birth_name=Cecil Bingham Levita |honorific_suffix={{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCVO|CBE|DL}} |birth_date={{Birth date|1867|01|18|df=yes}} |death_date= {{Death date and age|1953|10|10|1867|01|18|df=yes}} |image= |caption= |nickname= |birth_place= |death_place=Hove, East Sussex, England, UK |allegiance=United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |branch= British Army |service_years= |rank=Lieutenant-colonel |unit= |commands= |battles=Second Matabele War<br>Second Boer War<br>World War I |awards=Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order<br>Commander of the Order of the British Empire |relations=Lieutenant Colonel '''Harry Plumridge Levita''' {{c.}} 1862–1919 (brother) |other_work= |module= {{Infobox person |child=yes |political_party=Municipal Reform Party |other_party=Liberal Unionist Party }} }} '''Sir Cecil Bingham Levita''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCVO|CBE|DL}} (18 January 1867 – 10 October 1953) was a British soldier and public service worker who eventually rose to be chairman of the London County Council in 1928.<ref name=whowho>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U239828 |title=LEVITA, Lieut-Colonel Sir Cecil Bingham |work=Who Was Who |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=December 2007 |accessdate=1 March 2011}}</ref><ref name=obit/>
==Career== ===British Army=== Levita attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich<ref>{{cite news |title=Royal Military Academy, Woolwich |newspaper=The Times |date=24 July 1886 |page=9}}</ref> and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1886.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=25615 |date=10 August 1886 |page=3855 }}</ref> He started his career as a soldier serving in the Second Matabele War and the Second Boer War where he was A.D.C. to Lieutenant-General Sir Baker Russell.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27049 |date=7 February 1899 |page=793 }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27052 |date=14 February 1899 |page=930 }}</ref> He was later appointed a special service officer and a D.A.A.G. in the Natal Field Force.<ref name=whowho/> He was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Queen's medal with three clasps.<ref name=whowho/> He was created an MVO in 1901, and promoted to Major 5 February 1902.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=27408 |date=18 February 1902 |page=1038}}</ref> He retired from the army in October 1909.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28295 |date=8 October 1909 |page=7431 }}</ref> During the First World War he was recalled from the reserve to serve as General Staff Officer.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29231 |date=13 July 1915 |page=6936 }}</ref> After the war he was awarded the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel and made a CBE for "valuable services rendered in connection with the War".<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31377 |date=30 May 1919 |pages=6978–6981 |supp=y }}</ref>
===Politics=== In 1910 Levita contested the St. Ives division of Cornwall in the General Election as a Liberal Unionist but was unsuccessful.<ref name=whowho/><ref>{{cite news |title=Election Intelligence |newspaper=The Times |date=6 October 1909 |page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Election Notes. Unionist Gains And Increased Polls. |newspaper=The Times |date=29 January 1910 |page=7}}</ref> However, in 1911 he was elected at a by-election to the London County Council as a member of the Conservative-backed Municipal Reform Party,<ref>{{cite news |title=London County Council |newspaper=The Times |date=22 February 1911 |page=15}}</ref> where he represented North Kensington for over 25 years. He sat on numerous committees including serving as chairman of the housing committee and chairman of the London County Council from 1928 to 1929.<ref>{{cite news |title=New L.C.C.'S First Meeting. Col. Levita Elected Chairman |newspaper=The Times |date=16 March 1928 |page=11}}</ref> He was Knighted at the end of his term as chairman for "public and political services".<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33472 |date=26 February 1929 |page=1436 |supp=y }}</ref> He was largely responsible for founding the King George Hospital in Ilford to serve the population of the large LCC estate at Becontree.<ref name=whowho/><ref>{{cite news |title=King George Hospital at Ilford. Foundation Stones Laid |newspaper=The Times |date=7 July 1930 |page=23}}</ref> Levita was appointed a KCVO in 1932<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33785 |date=29 December 1931 |pages=6–7 |supp=y }}</ref>
==="Talking Mongoose Case"=== His career was somewhat overshadowed by an episode in 1936 which became known as the "Talking Mongoose Case". Levita had alleged that Richard S. Lambert, the founding editor of ''The Listener'' was unfit to serve on the board of the British Film Institute (on which his wife served) because Lambert had published an article about a house which was supposedly haunted by Gef the talking mongoose. Lambert then brought an action for slander against Levita which he continued to pursue despite pressure from Sir Stephen Tallents, controller of administration and the chairman of the BBC Ronald Collet Norman who was a friend of Levita's.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/in_depth/pressure/mongoose.shtml The BBC Under Pressure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424052810/http://www.bbc.co.uk/heritage/in_depth/pressure/mongoose.shtml |date=24 April 2009 }}, The Mongoose Case, 1936.</ref> Lambert won substantial damages<ref>{{cite news |title=High Court of Justice King's Bench Division, £7,500 Damages Against Sir Cecil Levita, Lambert v. Levita |newspaper=The Times |date=7 November 1936 |page=4}}</ref> and the case prompted an enquiry launched by then Prime Minister into the rights of a public corporation to control the extraneous activities of their employees.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lambert v. Levita A Special Board of Inquiry |newspaper=The Times |date=13 November 1936 |page=16}}</ref> The enquiry resulted in practices of the Civil Service being implemented within the BBC.<ref>{{cite news |title=B.B.C. And Mr. Lambert Report of Board of Inquiry, Theory of Persecution Rejected |newspaper=The Times |date=17 December 1936 |page=8}}</ref>
==Family== On 30 May 1917 Levita married Florence Woodruff, widow of George Aman of Bucharest and daughter of William Robb.<ref>{{cite news |title=Marriages |newspaper=The Times |date=31 May 1917 |page=1 }}</ref> The couple had one son and one daughter.<ref name=whowho/><ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Sir Cecil Levita |newspaper=The Times |date=12 October 1953 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Births |newspaper=The Times |date=5 July 1918 |page=1 }}</ref>
He died at his home in Hove, Sussex in October 1953 aged 86.<ref name=whowho/><ref name=obit/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=40001 |date=30 October 1953 |page=5826 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{S-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=John Maria Gatti}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the London County Council|years=1928–1929}} {{s-aft|after=Lord Monk Bretton}}
{{S-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levita, Cecil}} Category:1867 births Category:1953 deaths Category:English people of Polish descent Category:Royal Artillery officers Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Category:Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Category:Members of London County Council Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Knights Bachelor Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:People of the Second Matabele War Category:Municipal Reform Party politicians Category:Deputy lieutenants of the County of London Category:Conservative Party (UK) councillors Category:Liberal Unionist Party parliamentary candidates Category:Lieutenant colonels